will.i.am a Thief?

Many of us are well-educated in the forbidden act of plagiarism. In fact, it does not require much more than an elementary-level education to know that stealing is bad. That’s why I’m guessing will.i.am dropped out sometime before middle school in order to pursue his music career. Apparently this dance-pop producing powerhouse doesn’t know that you can’t steal from people – especially without asking.
On April 16th, will.i.am released most of his new album through his VEVO page on Youtube. There was an immediate uproar of debate between the trance population and the – for lack of a better term - will.i.am population over his song “Let’s Go” featuring Chris Brown. The reason why: it sounds nearly identical to trance producers Arty & Mat Zo’s previously released track “Rebound.” Practically the only difference between the two tracks is the addition of will.i.am and Chris Brown’s vocals and a traditionally annoying and repetitive “pop-drop.” Listen to both of the tracks below (if you start “Rebound” at about 1-minute in you can really hear the similarities).

According to Arty, Mat Zo, and their label Anjunabeats, none of them were contacted or had any idea the song was being produced and released.

According to Chris Brown, well… you can read the tweet:

Apparently will.i.am isn’t the only one who dropped out of school early to pursue a career in music…

As of now, Interscope records has not released any statement regarding the issue. It is likely, however, that Arty & Mat Zo will benefit pretty nicely from this act of debauchery. Their fame on Youtube has skyrocketed, and, since it is will.i.am we are talking about here, the song will probably be a hit amongst partiers around the globe. This means a nice producer-credits check to the talented and deserving Arty & Mat Zo.

Let me conclude this article by saying that your preference for poppy dance songs or EDM trance hits does not matter. It does not matter if you are and always will be a die-hard will.i.am fan – no one can deny that he produces hits. When all is said and done, however, one artist stole another artist’s work, and hopefully we can all agree that stuff like this just shouldn’t happen!